GOP gov candidates have high negatives

While the Republican candidates for gov tell everyone how great the news is in the latest poll, from Rasmussen Reports, forget the head-to-head matchups for a moment and consider this nugget:

Congressman Green is viewed favorably by 44% of Wisconsin voters and unfavorably by 38%. For Walker, the numbers are 40% favorable and 38% unfavorable.

Those are extremely high negatives for candidates who are still in the process of introducing themselves to the voters. There's really been no criticism or negative publicity about them, except in backwaters like this blog.

It is probably a sign that people just don't have very high opinions of any politicians these days.

But if I were a Green or Walker strategist (so far neither has tried to hire me), I'd be concerned. It wouldn't take much of a negative television campaign to push those negatives well over 50%. That's a problem.

Doyle's had some problems with negatives himself, but in this poll he had a positive rating, 55-42. People also approved of the job he's doing as governor, 56-42.